The Great Gatsby Essays (694 words) - The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby

The Great Gatsby Book Review The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is set in the 1920's during the Jazz Age. Nick Carraway is a man in his late twenties residing on West Egg island in Long Island, New York living a ?normal? life. That is, until he meets his mysterious neighbor, a wealthy man named Jay Gatsby. He is a man of mystery, living in a mansion that is constantly full of people, music, and fun. Nick's ?normal? life gets thrown topsy-turvy when he gets involved in the life of this extraordinary millionaire. Marred by jealousy, cheating, and lying, Nick begins to feel the essence of living a glamorous life in the ?20's. He showed this when he said, ?Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.? All along, I felt sorry for Nick being dragged into more and more tragedy, but I especially felt bad for him during one instance. His friend Daisy was married to Tom, but Tom was having an affair with Mrs. Wilson and Daisy had a thing for Gatsby. Daisy and Gatsby were driving home from town after an argument amongst the group of friends when they passed the Wilson's gas station. Mrs. Wilson ran out to Gatsby's car, because they were driving Tom's car, and was hit. Mr. Wilson went positively crazy, and Nick felt torn by his mixed feelings towards his supposed friend Gatsby. ?I disliked him so much by this time that I didn't find it necessary to tell him he was wrong.? Gatsby's insensitivity brought on by his lifestyle made Nick despise him. This is the part where I think Nick really started opening his eyes to how Gatsby really was. This book really displays how the life of an important person is, especially in that time period. At first, Nick is awed and drawn in by the glamour and prestige, but he eventually figures out for himself how rough it really was. Although this book was set back in the ?20's, the lessons you learn from it still apply to society and life in general today. Anyone could read this book and draw a few lessons about life from it. Summary The Great Gatsby was set in the 1920's. It's about the lives of a group of people who all become entangled in a web of, lying, scandal, and cheating together. Nick Carraway lives a ?normal? life on Long Island, until he meets his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Parties went on every weekend, and Nick gets caught up in Gatsby's ?glamorous? lifestyle. Soon, everyone is involved in scandal, Daisy's cheating on Tom with Gatsby, Tom's cheating on Daisy with Mrs. Wilson, and Nick's caught in the middle. Gatsby ends up convincing Nick to get Daisy to come to Gatsby's house, because they had a history together. Daisy comes, and both she and Gatsby find out that their love for each other never went away. The trouble really begins when Tom finds out that Daisy's love for Gatsby has rekindled. One day while in town, Tom and Daisy fight, so Gatsby drives Daisy home in Tom's car. On the way, they hit a woman who turns out to be Mrs. Wilson who was thought the person in the car was Tom, and was trying to talk to him. All the while, Nick starts realizing how terrible a life like Gatsby's is despite the outer glamour. He also becomes emotionally attached to golf player, Jordan Baker. After Mr. Wilson finds out who was in the car that killed his wife, he goes crazy and kills Gatsby. In the end, two people wind up dead, and everyone winds up hurt in one way or another. Daisy and Tom remain together, Mr. Wilson is crazy, and Nick is hurt by Jordan who never loved him back. After all of this emotional suffering, Nick realizes that he learned a valuable lesson about life: Some of the supposed happiest people with the best lives often are a lot worse off, or end up a lot worse off than people with ?normal? lives. The only thing he can do is go on living his life the way it was meant to be lead: not as a millionaire, or a prestigious person in society, but as a normal guy-the only way he knows how. Book Reports

American Independence essays

American Independence essays There has been a lot of things that led to American Independence. Many things were done by both the colonies and Great Britain that all built up to the Declaration of Independance and the Revolution. Economics, religion, society, and government all had parts in the American Independence. Economics was a big issue with the colonists. The King of Britain issued many unfair taxes on them. He taxed tea, stamps, and other things. The money from the taxes went into the King's pocket and he also used it to pay for the military, which is unfair because a free people shouldn't have to pay for the British military just because the King wants to force the military on the colonists. The colonists had no choice in whether or not they recieved help from the British military. Britain helped them and made them pay for it. Today, taxes pay for the well being of the country. It funds the government and the military, which protects America's welfare. Religion was a big reason the colonists came to America in the first place. In Britain, they had no choice in religion, so they came to America where they are free to practice any religion they want. Although Britain allowed them to come to America, it still tried to maintain almost complete control over the colonies. The colonists enjoyed many new freedoms in the American colonies, but Britain would not loosen it's grip on them. Britain refused to let them expand their colonies West of the Appalachian Mountains, and it imposed many unfair laws and acts on the colonies. After a while, most of the colonists became fed up with Britains unfairness. Some colonists, on the other hand, prefered the life that Britain offered them: no opporitunity, but definite money. The people who opposed Britain wrote articles like Common Sense, to persuade the other colonists to revolt. Soon, Thomas Jefferson composed the Declaration of Independence and sent it to Britain. Today, America is a cultural...